It's Manga and It's Not Pokémon: Yo-Kai Watch Vol. 1

 

YO-KAI WATCH, Vol. 1 by Noriyuki Konishi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thank you to the Fort Vancouver Library bookmobile for accidentally giving me the copy of Yo-Kai Watch Vol. 1 by Noriyuki Konishi. I would not have taken it off the shelf myself, but it did give me a view of non-Pokémon manga.

In Yo-Kai Watch, Nate, who we are repeatedly told is a typical kid, finds a watch that allows him to see Yo-kai, or animal-like beings that are invisible to humans, but affect their moods and environments. Yo-kai do not trust humans, as many of them have been hurt by them. Nate also acquires Whisper, a Yo-kai who is like a personal assistant to him and helps him with daily struggles as well as acting like a cultural translator for Nate with the Yo-kai. The first Yo-kai Nate meets after Whisper is Jibanyan, who spends his time playing chicken with vehicles and losing. His obsession was developed after his previous owner, Amy, responded cruelly after he was hit by a car.

Yo-kai again and again show that they do not trust humans and are reluctant to become friends with Nate until he manages to help them. Then, they give him a medal that when placed in his watch allows them to be summoned by Nate. In addition to Whisper, Jibanyan often helps Nate when he has conflicts with Yo-kai.

Besides being a manga series, Yo-kai was also a series of video games and a cartoon. Vol. 1 of the manga seems more like product placement than story to me, but it is my only point of reference, so it is possible that later volumes have more of a plot and more variety in their story lines.

Would I teach this book? That might sound like a strange question for a volume of manga, but I can see teaching it in a graphic literature course including some manga. If I were teaching a graphic literature course, it would be remiss not to include manga. However, the lack of ongoing plot and the time spent simply introducing us to characters does not make me want to share this book with others.

To be fair, I have a lot to learn about manga, and it is possible that I am missing something amazing in this novel. However, I doubt it. If you have suggestions for the next manga for me to read, please put it in the comments!

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